


the start of everything you want (new york)

by dirtshag



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: But Not Much, Fluff, M/M, Narry - Freeform, Some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-23
Updated: 2014-02-23
Packaged: 2018-01-13 08:58:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1220323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dirtshag/pseuds/dirtshag
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall and Harry get drunk, which leads to a thing, and now Harry feels weird about the thing and where he stands with Niall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the start of everything you want (new york)

He hovers close to the other boy, put off by his large and loud group of friends, and he feels so isolated from the boy he stands next to. Harry isn't like Niall's other friends; he's shit at football and would rather talk about art than about the girl one of them just shagged, which, unfortunately, is said quite loudly and earns the teller a slap across the cheek. Niall nods to him over his drink as the rest of the group bursts into obnoxious and drunken laughter. “You okay?” he asks and Harry only offers a quick smile and nod and the other boy flashes him a grin before turning his attention back to his other friends. Harry takes the opportunity to slink away from all the noise to find a quiet place where he can settle the storm raging inside him.

He wanders through the halls of his friend’s old house, where so many memories lay beneath the floorboards and the chipped paint of the walls. His feet bring him to the spare bedroom, where he has always been welcome to stay. And before he knows it, he’s toeing off his shoes and slipping beneath the familiar sheets, tugging them over his head because the light from the hallway spills in through the door left ajar, and now, he prefers the dark. 

He and Niall have been friends since they were kids. Harry had always been quiet and shy, but Niall, on the other hand, had been loud and friendly, bringing him an entirely new group of friends. Harry liked them well enough, but he never really seemed that interesting to them and therefore, never really quite fit in. He and Niall remained friends, but Niall's friends pulled them further away from each other. Harry always hoped that wasn't intentional, because he had a hard time finding friends. It wasn't that he was unfriendly, just a little quirkier that other kids seemed to think made him downright weird.

Harry submersed himself in the arts while Niall and his friends talked and played football. Harry went to Niall's games and always cheered louder than anyone else in the stands and Niall attended art shows with Harry, no matter how boring he found them. Harry made them interesting anyway. 

The two of them tried to stay close by having movie nights at each other's houses when they could, and one night, things were a little stranger than usual. Each of them was touchier than normal and hands brushed against thighs more often than necessary. Eyes lingered in different places for longer than strictly necessary and to ease the building tension, Niall suggested they have a drink and Harry gratefully agreed. These things seem normal when drunk, and their original issue worsened. That was three weeks ago and Harry feels conflicted and... empty.

He doesn't know how long he lies there, but the noise downstairs has softened to the good-byes of the last few guests leaving. He can hear the sound of the front door being shut firmly and locked for the night, and the lone squeak of the first step, which tells him Niall is coming upstairs. His friend's heavy footsteps pass the door then come to a halt. The door is pushed open further, bathing the dark room in light.

“Harry?” Niall asks, concern in his voice. “What’re you doing in here?” There’s a pause before he asks more softly, “How long have you been in here? I haven’t seen you all night, mate.”

Harry tries to hold back his sigh, but it passes through his parted lips anyway. “Thought you wanted to see your friends,” he mutters.

“Harry…,” Niall sighs, shutting the door with his foot and padding across the room to sit on the edge of the mattress. He reaches out to rake a hand through his friend's hair, but Harry just yanks the blankets over his head. Niall sighs. "Don't be like this," he murmurs. There's a moment of silence before he asks, "Can I lie down with you?" Harry considers his answer for a moment before he shifts over to make room for the other boy. Niall is as warm as the sheets as he crawls under them. Harry's cold and it's all that he can do to refrain from curling up into Niall's chest. "What's wrong, Harry?" Niall asks softly.

Harry thinks back to the way the boy across from him practically ignored him the whole night, and whose sole interest now is him. "I-I don't understand," Harry confesses and Niall crinkles his brow.

"What don't you understand?" he asks.

"I don't understand how we can be like this when it's just you and me, and not in front of your friends. I don't know what... what we are -- if we're anything." Niall is quiet for a moment, causing Harry to panic.

"What do you want us to be?" Niall asks steadily and Harry opens his mouth, but promptly closes it again, suddenly unsure of what he wants. 

Niall has shifted closer, close enough that Harry can feel his breath on his skin... and smell the alcohol on it. He internally rolls his eyes, cursing himself for thinking this was a real conversation. "Nevermind," he mutters, rolling over so his back is to Niall.

"What?" the other boy asks, sounding alarmed.

"Forget it," Harry mutters. "You're drunk; you won't remember this anyway."

"I'm not drunk," Niall defends. "It's two in the morning and fifty-five degrees outside. A giraffe's heart weighs twenty-two pounds and an octopus has two hearts and even that's not enough to compare to how much I love you."

Harry rolls to face the other boy, bewildered. "What?" he asks.

"I'm not drunk," Niall insists before turning his back to Harry.

"Wait, wait, wait," Harry hisses, yanking Niall by the shoulder to get him to face him, his fingers digging into his shoulder. "Y-you love me?" Harry asks and Niall blinks at him. "It's two in the morning, Harry. Do you honestly think there's anyone else I'd be up with at this hour?"

Harry doesn't even bother fighting the stupid grin pulling at his lips. "You're sure?" he asks and Niall quirks an eyebrow at him. "Do you want me to take it back?" he asks. 

"No, God, no," Harry gushes and the corner of Niall's mouth kinks up in a smirk. "Good," he says. "because I wasn't going to." Harry feels like an idiot; he's even got butterflies and all he can think about is how nice it would be to kiss Niall, so he does. The other boy seems surprised for a moment before he kisses back. Harry's still got that stupid grin plastered on his face when they break apart, and Niall can't help but smile.

Harry falls back against the pillows beside him, a sigh escaping his lips. "I am pathetically in love with you," he mumbles, and this time, Niall gets the butterflies. "Pathetically?" he asks with a slight smirk as he props himself up on his elbow.

"Yeah," Harry breathes, a smile twitching at his lips. "Pathetically."

"Have we always loved each other?" Niall asks after a moment of comfortable silence.

"I think so," Harry says with a deciding nod. "I don't think you'd have gone to all those art shows with me if you didn't love me. _I_ even found some of them complete torture -- and _that's_ saying something, don't you think?" he asks, grinning up a Niall, who can't conceal the fondness  toward the boy lying beside him he feels showing on his face. Niall smiles at Harry's blatant stupidity and settles back down into the pillows, reaching out for the boy across from him. Harry wriggles closer, tucking his head into the crook of Niall's neck, where it's warm and safe. Niall wraps his arm around Harry and his other hand comes up to mess with Harry's hair. Niall starts to hum softly as he draws circles into Harry's back, and soon enough, his neck is met with soft and even puffs of warm air, and Niall is able to drift off as well, contented now that he's got someone he'll be happy to wake up next to. With his last conscious thought before sleep, he realizes that this is what he wanted and Harry is all he'll ever really need.

 

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://dirtshag.tumblr.com)


End file.
